Make and Takes » Sewing

Dish Up Some Handmade Kitchen Towels

Little Birdies — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:49:43 +0000

It’s November — let the cooking and entertaining begin! The holidays are almost here. If you are like us, you are busy planning meals, baking, and entertaining. Why not impress your guests with cute kitchen accessories in addition to your fantastic rolls or pie. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to make a stylish kitchen towel to be strategically displayed when your brother’s new girlfriend or crazy distant cousins arrive for the feasting.

Supplies for Handmade Kitchen Towel:

Steam a Seam or Fusible Webbing
Fabric scraps
iron
kitchen towel
sewing machine and coordinating thread.

First, draw your design on the fusible web. Remember that this will need to be drawn in reverse. Then cut them out–not perfectly, but with a nice half an inch border around your shape.

Second, Iron your fusible webbing to the WRONG side of the fabric per the packages instructions. Once the webbing is adhered to the fabric, go ahead and cut out your shape.

Third, peel off the paper backing and place the shapes down on your towel where you would like them to be. Follow the package instructions again on how to fuse the shape to the towel.

Next, using your sewing machine, either applique/satin stitch or zig zag stitch all the way around your shapes. Be sure to sew down all sides of the shapes and do not leave any raw edges. You will want to be sure to use coordinating thread for this and may have to change your thread a few times before you are done.

Lastly, if you have some cute ric rac or pom poms, go ahead and add them to the bottom of the towel to give it a little extra finishing touch.

Little Birdie Secrets is a regular contributor to Make and Takes and was born from the crafting obsession of three friends living in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to share the wealth of fun projects and helpful tips we find in books, on the Internet, and sometimes in our own imaginations. Come visit us at www.littlebirdiesecrets.com

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How to Video: Crocheting a Fancy Flower

Marie — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:20:43 +0000

I was recently interviewed over at Todays Mama and talked about how yarn crafts are something I wish I was better at! So I’m sharing this easy to follow tutorial that I love from the Little Birdie Secrets for Crocheting a Flower. I’ve got all my supplies, some yarn and a crochet hook, and now I’m set to follow along. You will need to have a basic understanding of crocheting for this technique, but they do a great job with the video that I’m hoping my meager crocheting skills will get me through.

Aren’t these crochet flowers just to die for? Image via Little Birdie Secrets

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Little Apple Yarn Favors

Simple Scarves to Keep you Cozy this Fall

Little Birdies — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:34:13 +0000

Scarves are not only functional, but super stylish. If you don’t have time (or inclination) to knit or crochet one, cut one instead. Seriously–it’s that easy.

Find a rayon/cotton knit or jersey knit–something that is soft and has a little stretch. If you find 60″ width fabric you can get four single-layer scarves out of one 2-yard piece. Fold it a couple of times length-wise so it will fit your cutting mat, then use a quilting ruler and rotary cutter to cut it in four equal pieces. The raw edges curl slightly, which gives it a finished look. WOW– four fabulous gifts in about 3 minutes–no sewing required!

For a little thicker version, cut your 2-yard length of knit fabric in half lengthwise. Then take each piece, fold it in half lengthwise, and sew it in a big rectangle, leaving a small opening to turn inside-out. You can quickly hand sew the opening closed.

For more texture, wet the scarf and twist it, securing it with rubber bands and leaving it twisted until it dried. This just gives it a wrinkled texture, which relaxes the jersey knit fabric nicely (and covers up your not-so-straight sewing!).

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Easy Fringe Fleece Scarf Tutorial

Marie — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:54:35 +0000

This fleece scarf is as fun to make as it is to wear. It’s a great first-time-sewing project and perfect for the upcoming winter season. I made these with Halloween colors to help keep us warm as we trick-or-treat!

Supplies for Fringe Fleece Scarf:

1/4 yard of fleece (any color)
scissors
sewing machine or needle & thread

First, cut your fleece into long strips. My strips are about 4-5 inches wide and 5 feet long. You’ll want to cut it shorter for a child size scarf, about 3-4 feet long.

Layer 2 or 3 fleece strips on top of each other. It’s more fun if these are each a different color of fleece. Then sew down the middle, just one straight line. This is best done with a sewing machine, but you could simply use a needle and thread if you’re without a machine.

Cut 1 inch wide slits up each side of the sewn fleece strips. You want to get pretty close to the middle, but DO NOT CUT through the sewn line.

Now fluff it up and it’s ready to wear. I’ll be sporting this with my witch hat for Halloween (my standard costume as I trick-or-treat with the kids!) Or this would make a great scarf for a Cruella Deville costume.

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Sew a Fabric Yo-Yo Stationary Card

Marie — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:07:11 +0000

Guest Post by Lyndsey of The Stationary Place

I’ve always loved paper. Stationery, patterned paper, note cards, letterpress – I think paper is gorgeous and I love all of its different uses.

More recently, I’ve been on something of a crafting binge – and for my last birthday I asked for a sewing machine. Much to my seamstress mother’s dismay, so far I’ve only used it to sew paper. Why? Because I decided my new sewing skills would look best when used in conjunction with my favorite supplies. Who wants to stitch together a shirt when you can stitch a piece of handmade stationery? Not me. [Twisted, I know. But someday I’ll try the shirt too :) ]

So, I thought I’d share one of my latest projects – to help you see just how easy it is to combine the world of sewing with the world of paper. Using a sewing machine adds a great handmade touch and really personalizes things.

Okay, here we go: The Yo-Yo Card

You’ll need some colorful fabric, scissors, a blank card, a needle and thread and of COURSE a sewing machine.

I’m always looking for fun ways to incorporate fabric into cards [see a brilliant – and easy! – way to make a quilted fabric note card here, from the MADE blog]. I’ve seen these cute fabric yo-yos popping up all over etsy and the blogosphere, and thought “those would look great on a card!”

To make a yo-yo, cut a circle out of any fabric. By hand, make a running stitch around the edge of the circle and then pull the string till the circle bunches together; sew a few stitches in the middle to keep it together.

It should look like this when you’re done:

Next, get your paper supplies out. I took a pre-cut, blank cardstock card and sliced out a smaller piece of sturdy green paper to use as my canvas.

Now’s the fun part: get your sewing machine ready! I wanted to stitch stems and grass for my little yo-yo flowers, so I picked a bright green thread. I lined up where I wanted my yo-yos to be on the canvas paper, and then used my sewing machine to make a straight stitch for each flower.

I looove all the various stitches to choose from on sewing machines. Out of my 25 different stitches, one really reminded me of grass – and inspired the card. I changed the stitch setting and used the “grass” stitch to go straight across the bottom of the canvas paper. You don’t have to have this same stitch on your machine; I think even a zigzag stitch would look cute for grass.

My green canvas paper looked like this once I finished stitching:

Next, attach the yo-yos – I hand-stitched each one in place a few times and then used brads for the centers. I added a little paper border at the top, with a handwritten “hello” tag. I used double-sided sticky tape to attach my green paper to the front of the card – and voila! A sewing machine note card!

Sewing machines work great on cards or scrapbook pages as borders, accents or even part of the design like my yo-yo card. With so many fun fabrics and thread colors out there, any paper project can be spiced up with a little stitching! Try it the next time you work on a note card – you’ll be surprised how seamlessly [ha!] the two craft worlds combine.

Lyndsey Wells is the paper fiend behind the stationery place, showcasing a daily dose of beautiful stationery, DIY paper crafts and inspirational designers — but in real life, her day job is doing marketing for a scrapbook company. Lyndsey just moved from sunny Los Angeles to gorgeous Utah, and is still trying to adjust to the new lifestyle while her husband attends business school. She loves dessert, all things social media [follow her on twitter here] and curling up with a good book or movie.

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Weekend Links: Disneyland Crafty Projects

Marie — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:59:48 +0000

As I’ve still got Disneyland on the brain, here’s a few fun Disneyland inspired projects I’ve found. I can’t wait to make the Pixie Hollow project below with a photo of my own little girl!

Pixie Hollow in a Jar by Zakka Life (pictured above)
Mickey Mouse Candy Bouquet by This Marvelous Life
Sew a Mickey Mouse Purse by Dollar Store Crafts
Disney Princess Pillowcase Dress by My Creative Life
Disneyland Pressed Pennies by Just Spotted (but you gotta be in Disneyland for this one!)

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My Baby’s Quilt is Finally Done!

Marie — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:54:15 +0000

Yay! I did it. I finished my baby’s quilt, only 15 months late. Remember this quilting post? I’ve made a quilt for all three of my babies when they’re born, something for them to always have that’s made from me! I love it and so does my baby!

This quilt has a sort of ‘nine patch’ pattern to it that I learned from a quilting class a few years back. I highly suggest you take a quilting class if you’re just beginning. One day I hope to be a Crazy Mom Quilter, making one of these everyday.

Don’t you just love these butterflies quilted in the fabric? If you’re in the Salt Lake City area, I’ve got a fabulous machine quilter for you. Ella does a great job and has great prices!

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Weekend Links: Pillowcase Sewing Projects

Marie — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:27:02 +0000

Do you have lots of old pillowcases that need to be turned into something else? If so, here’s a few fun sewing projects using pillowcases.

Travel Pillow for the car by Craft Addictions (pictured above)
Pillowcase Pocket for a small friend by Elsie Marley
10 Minute Pillowcase Apron by Betz White
Reversible Pillowcase Tote by Polkanuts
Pillowcase Smock by Family Fun
Pillowcase Dress by Red Instead
Don’t want to sew? Buy this Pillowcase Dress from Prairie Mama

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Dish Up Some Handmade Kitchen Towels

Simple Flower Garden Sachets

Little Birdies — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:17:41 +0000

Here are a two simple crafts you can do using items found in your own flower garden. Make these fun and fragrant flower sachets.

Instructions: Simple Lavender Sachet

If you have lavender, now is a great time to snip a few off and dry them.

Once your lavender is dry, you can gently rub the purple buds off the stems. Save these.

Next, take a piece of muslin and embroider. I chose a simple heart shape. If you want to skip the embroidery, select a beautiful piece of fabric.

Once you are happy with your embroidery, cut two pieces or one long piece that you can fold in half. Place the two pieces of fabric right sides together (or fold it right sides together) and sew it. Leave one side open. Snip the corners and turn your bag inside out.

Pull out your dried lavender buds. The fragrance should be strong enough but if it is not strong enough to your liking, you can add a drop of lavender essential oil to your dried buds. Place the dried buds in your little sachet.

Fold the top edges in and sew shut.

Now it is ready to be placed in your dresser drawers or shoe closet.

Instructions: True Love Fresh Rose Petal Sachet

If you prefer roses over lavender, then you can make a simple fresh rose petal sachet. I used to sleep with fresh rose petals under my pillow when I was a little girl because someone told me it helps you dream of your true love. What a sweet thing to do, especially if you have roses in your garden. I think this would be a fun thing to give to a bride the night before her wedding day or to a young woman the night before the big dance. I think even little girls would love to dream of their future prince.

Simply sew two pieces of tulle together, or one long piece folded in half just like we did above for the lavender sachet. Turn your bag inside out and fill with fresh rose petals. Be sure to use fresh petals. If you use dry petals you will wake up to a bed full of rose petal crumbs-yuck! I just looked for the roses that were about to shed their petals anyway and plucked away.

Tie the bag off with a bow and place under your pillow. Sweet dreams!

The ladies of Little Birdie Secrets are regular contributors at Make and Takes. Their site was born from the crafting obsession of three friends living in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to share the wealth of fun projects and helpful tips we find in books, on the Internet, and sometimes in our own imaginations.

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How-To Video: Hand-Stitched Cards

Marie — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:31:19 +0000

These hand-stitched cards are simple and fun to make. I’ve been stitching them for quite a few years now and have shared many patterns in my Card Patterns category. Today I’ve taken a video of me stitching a Gift Box Greeting Card for you to see just how easy it is. You can follow right along.

Supplies: Everything is available at your local craft or fabric store.

Punching Awl
Pattern for Gift Box to punch – Download this pattern, then print it out: Gift Box Stitched Card Pattern
Cork board: For punching holes in card – found at kitchen or office store (try a cork hot plate)
Thread: I usually use DMC floss, with all six strands
Needle: Cross-stitch needle #26 for 18-22 count fabric
Cardstock: white piece, accent color piece, folded card piece
Envelope: white envelope that measures, 4 ½ “ x 5 ¾ “
Glue: Glue stick, glue dots, spray glue is recommended

Instructions: For complete instructions on Punching, Stitching, and Gluing this card, please visit my Basic Instructions Post.

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